TLC Orders 'Long Lost Family' to Series (Exclusive)

Open a fresh box of Kleenex and flip over to TLC: The cable channel has ordered “Long Lost Family” to series.

The show features highly emotional and touching stories of people who have suffered a lifetime of separation and are yearning to be reunited with their birth parents and biological families. The reverse also applies on this reality show: Parents who wish to find children they had to place for adoption long ago.

Hosts Chris Jacobs and Lisa Joyner are both adoptees who have embarked on their own journeys to discover their biological families. Each episode follows the hosts as they investigate the stories of two individuals or families who have longed to resolve their lifelong searches.

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The stakes are high, TLC promises: A successful investigation offers the promise of not just a heartwarming reunion but also a chance of redemption for people who have wrestled with emotional agony for years.

There is no simple path to find the missing loved ones. With tightly held family secrets in their way, the searchers have odds stacked against them. Jacobs and Joyner conduct painstaking searches through public records and utilize the latest DNA technology in their hunt for answers. But what they discover, and who they find, is anything but expected.

TLC’s descriptions of some participants are included below.

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Rita (pictured above, with host Joyner)
A mother who was forced to place her baby boy for adoption 31 years ago. Rita’s boyfriend dumped her when she told him she was pregnant and her mother sent her to a home for pregnant young women for fear of a scandal. Still holding on to his baby blanket from the hospital, she longs to meet her son again and keep the promise she made to find him.

Jenny
Her birth mother was the daughter of a minister who was deeply embarrassed by a pregnancy out of wedlock. Because of the lack of support offered, she ended up placing Jenny with social services. The search for Jenny’s birth mother takes a dramatic turn, when photo evidence suggests they may have been unknowingly connected for years.

Diana and Jeannette
They are two women in search for the father who suddenly vanished from their lives when they were just 4 and 5 years old. With no memories of their separation from him, the women have grown up haunted by his sudden disappearance. They hope he can be found so they can see him once again to find out the truth and ask him what happened.

Ancestry, the largest provider of family history and personal DNA testing, is teaming up with TLC as a sponsor of the upcoming season. As part of the show sponsorship, Ancestry provides family history research on each of the featured individuals to help make discoveries possible.

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“Long Lost Family” is produced by Shed Media for TLC. The series premieres Sunday, March 6, at 10/9c.

Watch a video teaser above, which is also exclusive to TheWrap.

13 Reality Shows Killed by Scandal Before '19 Kids and Counting': 'Megan Wants a Millionaire' to 'Buckwild' (Photos)

These reality television shows made their exit from the small screen in unfavorable ways. Will "19 Kids and Counting" follow a similar path?
Getty Images/TLC/MTV
MTV suspended production on "Buckwild," marketed as the "redneck version" of "Jersey Shore," following the death of cast member Shain Gandee. The 21-year-old was found dead of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.
MTV
Never mind that Liza Minnelli and David Gest separated the following year, VH1 dropped "Liza and David" before its first episode aired because Gest was "impossible to work with."
Twitter/@LoveYouMoreMJ_
"Kid Nation," a show about 40 kids running their own town with minimal adult interference, was axed by CBS when it was accused of exploiting the children's welfare and being the "sweatshop of the entertainment industry."
CBS
CeeLo Green’s reality show "The Good Life" was canned by TBS days after the musician pleaded no contest to a felony charge of giving a woman the drug ecstasy. He then tweeted: “People who have really been raped REMEMBER!!!”
Getty Images
"Pretty Wild" was slated to become E!'s next reality family success story after the Kardashians. The show followed momager Andrea Arlington and her three wannabe model daughters Alexis Neiers, Tess Taylor and Gabby Neiers. Alexis was arrested after shooting the pilot as one of the members of the "Bling Ring," a group of teenage thieves who broke into celebrity homes like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. "Pretty Wild" included some of the trial in its first season and did not opt to renew.
Getty Images
TLC quickly canceled "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" after reports came out that June Shannon, mother to the young star of the series, was resuming her relationship with a man who was convicted of molesting another one of her daughters.
TLC
Ryan Jenkins, the Canadian man suspected of killing model Jasmine Fiore and then taking his own life, appeared first as a contestant on "Megan Wants A Millionaire" and then on "I Love Money 3." Though the incident happened months after he was on either show, VH1 pulled the plug on both. "Megan Wants A Millionaire" was yanked mid-season, while "I Love Money 3" was not set to air for another year.
VH1
"Ev and Ocho" was a VH1 series following newlyweds NFL receiver Chad Johnson (aka Ochocinco) and “Basketball Wives” star Evelyn Lozada. VH1 yanked the show after the new groom was arrested on a domestic violence charge for head-butting his new bride.
VH1
"Armed and Famous" followed five stars (La Toya Jackson, Erik Estrada, Jack Osbourne, Jason "Wee-Man" Acuna and Trish Stratus) who enrolled in the Police Academy in Muncie, Indiana, and served as part of its patrol. The show was canceled after four episodes due to ratings ... And perhaps because Estrada got into a public shouting match with a suspect. Also, a woman sued the show for wrongful entry and illegal search.
CBS
"Jon & Kate Plus 8" became "Kate Plus 8" when Jon and Kate Gosselin announced their split during the show's fifth season finale. Jon wasn't pleased to be kicked off the show and tried to stop TLC from filming his children altogether.
TLC
A&E yanked "The Two Coreys," which featured child stars Corey Haim and Corey Feldman, after Haim suffered a drug abuse relapse while shooting the second season. Feldman said he would no longer deal with his friend's substance addiction. Haim died in March 2010.
A&E
"Flip It Forward" features twin brothers Jason and David Benham in their own HGTV series. Or, it would, had the network not shut down those plans after learning about homophobic, anti-Muslim and anti-abortion statements they’d made in the past.
HGTV
Last month, it was revealed that Josh Duggar had inappropriately touched five underage girls – four of which are his sisters – when he was a teenager. TLC pulled all episodes of "19 Kids and Counting" off the air, but has stopped short of definitively canceling the show. Considering the backlash and how many of its sponsors have dropped out, it's a matter of "when" and not "if" the show will get axed.
TLC